Up Next
Back to Show
NOVA
The Mystery and Physics of the Spiral Football Pass
Why does the nose of the football go from pointing upward to rotating downward when most things stay the same orientation when they move through the air? (Think of frisbees, bean bags, even paper airplanes.) The reason is something called "conservation of angular momentum." Discover the physics that explains how a perfect football pass moves through the air.
Support Provided By
53:20
The inside story of China’s meteoric rise to the forefront of global innovation.
Unlock with PBS Passport
53:15
How did Earth give rise to humans? See what made our species' existence possible.
Unlock with PBS Passport
53:45
How did life bounce back after a cataclysmic extinction wiped out some 90% of all species?
Unlock with PBS Passport
53:47
See how life made the leap to land, turning a barren landscape into a lush, green world.
Unlock with PBS Passport
53:47
See how Earth transformed from a barren hellscape to a planet capable of sustaining life.
53:31
Who created the Nazca lines and why? New clues to one of the greatest ancient enigmas.
53:43
Ancient footprints provide new evidence of humans and extinct giant beasts of the Ice Age.
53:16
Sir David Attenborough explores a site with traces of ancient mammoths and Neanderthals.